A War Within Themselves
by bram4eva
Summary: Brittany and Sam make a new life for themselves and their beautiful twin children in Australia after the deaths of their friends in a university shooting. Just as they settle into a new routine, a yellow envelope is delivered to their house, changing their lives forever
1. Prologue

The last box was unpacked and everything put away. Brittany and Sam sat back on the bench chair on their front porch, watching the world go by. It was January 1964 and they had just finished the huge task of moving their life over to Australia. Their beautifully made two storey house sat on an angle that showed off the Sydney harbour bridge.

"I'm glad we decided to move here. It's so beautiful. And it's a lovely neighbourhood for the twins to grow up in." Brittany murmured, leaning on Sam. He nodded.

"I'll miss our friends back home, though." He said, watching as a small boat chugged through the otherwise calm water of the harbour. It had taken a long time for them to both decide to pack up and leave the comfort of Lima and venture out into the world, making a new life of their own. Since the deaths of Finn, Tina, Blaine and Marley in a freak shooting at the local university, a lot of the new directions had been packing up and moving away, though none as far as Brittany and Sam. Most just moved across the country or across the state but the blonde couple decided that moving to another country would be better for them and their beautiful twin children, Miranda and Mason. Tomorrow would they would start the process of becoming legal Australian citizens, having been in the country for nearly six months by now. They had stayed in a small rental apartment to start with but now had bought their own house and their jobs were stable.

"Mommy!" Miranda's melodic voice echoed through the house and Brittany sighed, pushing herself up from the bench.

"It's going to be great, Sam. I just hope nothing dramatic happens again." She said as she made her way inside to deal with Miranda. Sam got up to follow her, locking the door behind him.

"Let's hope."


	2. Chapter 1: Conscription

The letter came on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in July. Brittany Evans was watching her two children, Miranda and Mason play in the front yard when the mail man posted it into the letterbox. The flash of an official yellow envelope made Brittany's heart clench as she made her way down the path to collect it. Miranda and Mason played calmly in their sandpit, oblivious to their mother's distress when her fears were shown true as the official government stamp glistened in the sun light.

"Mason! Miranda! Time for lunch." She called out, hiding the letter within the other mail. The children dropped their buckets and shovels, racing into the house to help with the lunch preparations. Brittany looked towards the sky as she followed, praying that everything would be okay.

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" Brittany's husband, Sam called as he dropped his keys into the bowl by the door and hung his coat on the coat rack.

"Daddy!" Mason and Miranda cried as they bolted towards their father, almost knocking him over as they launched themselves at him. He laughed and bent down to hug the giggling children.

"You little monsters. Where's your mother?" He asked, ruffling Miranda's hair which the little girl promptly fixed, frowning at her father.

"Mommy's in the kitchen. She's been in there since lunch." Mason answered, dragging Sam by the hand into the kitchen where Brittany was roughly stirring a pot on the stove. Sam instinctively knew that something had upset her so he bent down to Mason's eye level and spoke to him.

"Mason, take your sister into the living room. You can turn on the television set if you'd like" he said. Mason grinned and went to find his sister, yelling excitedly about watching the television.

"Brittany, what's happened?" Sam shut the door and crossed the room, wrapping his harms around Brittany's waist.

"Table." Was all she said, pointing to where the offending envelope was lying, it's cheery yellow colour somehow darkening the once happy room. Sam drew a quick breath as he tore open the envelope and read the contained letter.

_Dear Mr. Samuel Evans,_

_We are writing to inform you that you are being called upon for duty to pay your service to your country. The war has left our offensive weak and we are relying upon the good hearts and loyalty of the people to help us._

_You are required to attend a three week training camp in Canberra before being deported to assist out allies in Vietnam. Your training will commence on Monday the 12__th__ of August, 1964. Please make sure you are there. More details will be sent to you at a later date._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Gabrielle Matheson, Secretary to the Prime Minister_

The letter floated to the floor when Sam finished reading, his body almost frozen in shock. Brittany stopped stirring the pot and looked at him.

"Well? What does it say?" She asked, not entirely sure if she really wanted to know, given her husband's reaction. Sam blinked, snapping out of his shock and stared at her.

"Conscription. They want me in the army/ I have to go. Three weeks. That's all I have left." He couldn't even form full sentences as he tried to tell the woman he loved that he was required to leave her and head off into an unknown land, fighting a war that made no sense to him. Brittany's hand flew to her mouth, covering her gasp as tears spilled from her eyes.


	3. Chapter 2: I'll Miss You

"Mommy, what's wrong?" Miranda stood at the kitchen door, watching her mother feverishly clutch at her father, tears streaming down her face. Brittany looked up in surprise, she hadn't seen or heard Miranda come in. She smiled through her tears and went over to the little girl.

"Mommy and Daddy just got some sad news. That's all." She said, bending down to pick her up.

"What news, mommy? Did another friend die?" Brittany had to laugh at the serious look on Miranda's face but her laughter wasn't as cheerful as it usually was.

"No honey. You don't need to know just yet. We will tell you and Mason when the time is right, okay?" She said. Sam came over to them and kissed the top of Miranda's head, hating that he would be leaving her in just three weeks' time.

"Go tell Mason that dinner's ready." Sam said. Miranda nodded and ran out of the room.

"We'll have to tell them soon, Brittany. I can't just leave, knowing they have no idea where I am." Sam said and she nodded.

"I know. Just give it a little time to sink in." She said, turning back to the stove to serve up the stew she'd made.

* * *

It wasn't until the next week that the next letter came for Sam, giving him details on what he had to bring, where he had to be and anything else important. By this time, Miranda and Mason knew that their father had been called upon to join the army and spent hours talking excitedly about the souvenirs he might bring back for them. Neither Sam nor Brittany had the heart to tell them it wasn't definite that Sam would come back.

"Daddy, could you bring me a gun? A big one like the ones in the cartoons on the telly?" Mason asked as they were sitting at the dinner table. Sam almost choked on his food at the thought of bringing home any of the weapons he would be using.

"Mason, Daddy can't bring you a gun because they won't belong to him. He has to borrow them from the official people." Brittany jumped in, making up the first thing that came to mind. Mason pouted but shrugged it off, continuing his dinner.

"Britt, I have to tell them." Sam said his voice almost a whisper. Brittany looked at him.

"Are you sure?" he nodded and turned to the children who were eagerly looking at him, waiting for whatever he had to say.

"Mason, Miranda. When daddies go off to fight in a war, they don't always come back." He said, hoping they would understand.

"Do they find another mommy and children in the war to live with?" Miranda asked. Sam closed his eyes for a moment before continuing.

"No, sweetie. A war is very dangerous. There are guns and bombs everywhere and sometimes when daddies are fighting to protect their little children, they end up getting shot by the guns or blown up by the bombs."

"But not our daddy. He's super strong. He'll make all the bullets and bombs go the other way." Mason announced proudly, to no one in particular. Brittany smiled at him.

"Yes he's super strong. But he's not invincible. What daddy is trying to say is that he might not come home because he might die while he is fighting to protect us." The tears began to fall from Brittany's eyes again as her blunt words played back in her head. She had just admitted the one thing she had been trying to ignore for the past week. Sam reached across the table and took her hand.

"It might happen, but you must all remember; I love you all very much and I will do my best to make sure I come home, in one piece. I will be thinking of you every moment I'm gone, I promise you that." Miranda and Mason reached across the table, putting their hands over their parents'.

"We'll miss you daddy." Miranda said, squeezing her father's hand.

"I'll miss you too, sweetie."


End file.
